Are you burying this?

Wife: when’s your next session with Ed?

Him: Today, it’s actually our last official session today.

Wife: Oh, you’re carrying on though right?

He told me this story laughing at his wife’s poorly vailed attempt to make sure he knew that she was pleased with the recent changes and didn’t want them to go away.

This is a conversation repeated to me by clients almost monthly.

Our partners experience our stress more than we do in many ways.

Not just in the reduced affection, conversation and support at home.

But also in witnessing the stress, low energy and sleep issues that we might be going through.

Empathy is no less exhausting than stress.

It’s so easy to forget while living our ONE life that those we love and who love us only get one life too.

And although I can’t say exactly what people want from their relationships I can say for certain they had a SHARED adventure in mind.

I’ve been there myself. My wife used to say “Oh you found your funny”. Once I’d done the work and come out the other side.

I didn’t find it funny for a long time, but it’s a good reminder I’ve who I never want to be again.

A good partner knows who we could be and will remind us when we aren’t being that.

It’s one of those things that CEO’s/founders/leaders will often bury because they aren’t sure how to face it.

Something tells us that it’s a separate challenge from work but it never is. It’s EXACTLY the same one manifesting in different ways.

The answer can sting but eventually we have to face the question, is my partner in love with our life together?

That is a totally different question to, do they love me but it’s the one we need to face.